Skip to main content

Green Tribunal "sets aside" eco-clearance to Adani Hazira port expansion in Gujarat, imposes Rs 25 crore fine

By Our Representative
In a ruling of far-reaching significance, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Pune, has set aside environmental clearance (EC) to the Adani Hazira Port Pvt Ltd (AHPPL) dated May 3, 2013, granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for the further development of port activities at Hazira, South Gujarat.
The order, delivered by Justice VR Kingaonkar and Dr Ajay A Deshpande, imposes a penalty of Rs 25 crore by continuing with the expansion “undaunted” in the absence of EC and Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance.
The order says that the penalty should to be deposited to the district collector, Surat for the “restoration” of access of the boats to traditional fishermen in the seawater through mouth of the creek, affected by “closing/narrowing down mouth of the creek.”
The order also requires the Adani Group to pay Rs 2 lakh each to four appellants – the Hazira Macchimar Samiti, represented through its President Dhansukhbhai Banabhai Rathod, Maheshbhai Rathod, Hasmuckhbhai Rathod, and Vimalbhai Khalasi – as litigation cost.
Cases of alleged environmental non-compliance by the Adani Group in the past have been used by the powerful international NGO Greenpeace in its challenge to the Adanis’ ambitious plan to develop the world’s biggest coalmining project in Australia’s Queensland province, predicting irreversible ecological damage.
Examining the minutes of 117th meeting of the Environmental Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the MoEF, in which CRZ clearance for the AHPPL was considered, the NGT said, they do not reflect the detailed plan with budgetary provisions for corporate social responsibility (CSR) which was committed.
Pointing out that “there appears no such verification and compliances”, the judgment observes, “Least to say, it is indicative of casual approach of EAC to recommend the proposal which was approved further by Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, i.e. MoEF, while granting the impugned EC.”
The judgment further says, care was “not taken by the MoEF” about the need to take “consent to establish” hazardous material storage facility from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board “to avoid any future mishap from hazardous products/material, likely to be brought to the port and stored.”
Perusing the maps, the order states, go to show that most of mangroves area has been “destructed”, noting, “The creek situated in north-east corner is narrowed down due to reclamation of land, as a result of port/cargo activities and port expansion activities.”
The order, which is also significant as it "indicts" a business house known to be closest to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says, “Instead of expanding port work in phase-out manner, expansion was already practically done almost without obtaining EC and CRZ clearance.”
The order states, this came to light after the NGT “directed the MoEF to examine these maps with earlier authentic maps and get superimposed status map, in order to demonstrate whether a bottleneck is artificially created due to reclamation of land and the Port activities of AHPPL, which could cause denial of access to the traditional boats of fishermen folks of Hajira.”
“Obviously, AHPPL laboured under impression that it can manage with the authorities to alleviate the problems”, the order underlines, adding, “One of the examples, which we can see from the record is that the AHPPL sought modification of terms of the earlier EC dated May 3, 2003, without any reasonable explanation and without any prior study of environmental impact.”
The result, it says, was that “this area, which once had abundance of mangroves stretches as per MoEF’s own record, presently does not have any mangrove vegetation, clearly indicating the environmental degradation and damage.”
---
Click HERE to download complete NGT order

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Hazrat Aisha’s age was 16, not 6: 'Weak' Hadith responsible for controversy

Sacred chamber where Prophet and Aisha used to live By Dr Mike Ghouse* Muslims must take the responsibility to end the age-old controversy about Hazrat Aisha’s age at the time of her marriage to the Prophet (pbuh) – it was 16, not 6 (minimum was 16, Max 23 per different calculations). The Hadiths published were in good faith, but no one ever checked their authenticity, and they kept passing on from scholar to scholar and book to book.  Thanks to 9/11, Muslims have started questioning and correcting the Hadiths, Seerah, and mistranslations of the Quran. Now, the Ulema have to issue an opinion, also known as Fatwa, to end it and remove those Hadith entries. Mustafa Akyol, a scholar of Islam, implores Muslims to stop deifying “the received traditions” and critically study their religious past, shedding rigid legalism and close-mindedness. Someone else used the phrase “copycat Muslims” to identify scholars who copied what was given to them and passed it on without researching or questioni